Six Months Later

The street was already empty as I pulled my car up to the line. Maybe it was boring to some people to keep coming to the Thursday night races, but there really was nothing better than beating some of these younger guys who thought they could kick my ass without even trying.

The race started and was over before I even blinked. I won by a few car lengths and smiled as I pulled my car up next to the crew. Everyone was here tonight. The kids were at home, so the entire crew fanned out, smiling and laughing with each other.

Everyone, including Daisy.

I wasn’t good at a lot of things, and this might be one of them, but damn if I wasn’t going to try.

I revved the engine, feeling adrenaline and nervousness mixing in my veins. With one deep breath, I stepped out of my car and walked over to Daisy, my heart thundering in my chest. She looked beautiful like she always did, but tonight was different.

Because tonight, she would hopefully agree to be my wife.

It’s not like it would be a surprise to her. I only told her every single day that I wanted her to marry me. I just didn’t think she would be expecting a proposal here tonight.

The crew gathered around. They were all married now and were more than happy to help me propose to Daisy. Their cars circled around us, each one running colored lights and surrounding us in a vibrant rainbow of colors.

It was as pretty of a setting as I could come up with, and she seemed more than happy as she looked around.

“What’s going on?” Daisy’s voice was soft, her eyes full of curiosity as she peered down up me. I took a deep breath, trying to calm the nerves that threatened to make my hands shake. The hum of the engines and the glow of the colored lights wrapped around us, and I knew I couldn’t do better than this.

Maybe I could have found another place, maybe I could have waited to do it in a damn field of Daisy’s, but this felt right to me, and that’s all I could do.

“You know I’m not always good with words,” I began, earning a laugh from the crew gathered behind me. “But every day, I wake up grateful that you’re in my life. You make me want to be better, to try harder, to love you the best I can every day. I only want to spend my life making you as happy as you make me.”

A soft smile tugged at the corners of Daisy’s lips, her eyes glimmering with unshed tears. “Kye...”

I lowered myself onto one knee, reaching into my pocket for the small box that held a ring with a light blue stone that I thought she would love.

“Will you marry me?”

She yelled out something, tears falling as she fell down, throwing her arms around me as she landed on my knees.

“Do you even have to ask? Of course, it’s a yes. A thousand times, yes.”

The crew erupted into cheers and applause, engines revving in celebration, as Daisy slipped the ring onto her finger. I stood up, pulling her close to me as we were surrounded by our friends.

A sense of peace settled over me. Daisy was going to be my wife, and I couldn’t imagine a future without her by my side. The colored lights continued to dance around us, a beautiful backdrop to the start of our new chapter together.

“One more thing,” I whispered, waiting as the kids got out of Fox’s car. Bailey came out last, a bouquet of daisies in her hand. “Looks like you’re stuck with me, little bee,” I said as she ran over.

She screeched, jumping onto me as I lifted her up.

“I figured you would want her here,” I said, “but I really thought you should say yes before I included her.”

Daisy was crying now, grabbing Bailey from my arms and holding her close between us.

“We’re together forever, Kye,” she cried. “You’re absolutely stuck with us now.”

“Thank god,” I said, kissing her once before kissing Bailey’s head. “I don’t know if I could be happy if it was any other way.”

Two days later, I pulled up to the track at Holt, Daisy in my passenger seat. 

I lined the car up before taking off around the curves and swinging the back of the car around each one.

Daisy reached out, her fingers digging into my forearm suddenly.“Kye, stop,” she said, grabbing onto my arm. We were at the other end of the track, and she was currently looking more car-sick by the second.

I laughed, trying to ease her tension. “Alright, hold on.”

“Kye! Stop!” she yelled, fighting the harness now. She had ridden with me plenty of times, and I wasn’t expecting the sudden freakout.

I hit the brakes, letting the car jolt to a stop. 

“What, did I freak you out?” I asked, pulling off the helmet. “It’s been months, Daze. Does it scare you that bad?”

She fought with the harness and then the helmet before kicking open the door.

“Daisy, what’s wrong? What are you doing?”

She, apparently, wasn’t able to answer, finally breaking free and making it to the edge of the track just in time to puke.

I ran out, trying to help how I could as she kept puking, but there was nothing to do but let it happen.

Finally, it slowed.

“Water?” I asked.

“Yeah, here, come on.” I picked her up and sat her on the back of the car.

“Here, water,” I said, grabbing the bottle from the car and handing it to her. Her face went pale again, and for a second, I thought she might start puking up the water.

“I’m sorry, Daze. You’ve never had a problem. I didn’t realize all the spinning would get to you that much.”

“No, it’s fine. Not your fault,” she said through short breaths.

“I’m still sorry. Do you want to go lie down? There are plenty of places we can set you up for a minute until it stops.”

“It’s not going to stop.”

“If I stop spinning the car, it will,” I said with a laugh, trying to make her feel better.

She took a deep breath, looking back at the crew, who had to be wondering what was going on. “I had been looking for the right time to talk about this, but I think this is the best I could ask for in our lives, considering what this car, place, and people mean to you.”

Worry and fear filled my gut. There was something dark that always lingered when you loved someone so much, the gnawing fear that anything could take them away. Now, I was worrying that something was seriously wrong.

“Best for what?”